2008 Coeur de Terre Vineyard Estate McMinnville Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

13.8% alc., pH 3.74, $34. Released May 1, 2010. Estate grown fruit only including a combination of younger vines and more mature fruit. Cold soak for 3 days, free run and press sent directly to barrel, fermentation with indigenous and commercial yeasts, racking if necessary, aged 14 months in 30% new, 60% seasoned and 10% neutral French oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered. · Shy but charming perfume of darker fruits with toasty oak to the front. Similar to the Oregon bottling but more refined with softer tannins. Black cherry and blackberry flavors with underpinnings of earthy loam, minerals, tobacco and toasty oak. Nicely crafted and very promising, but needs time like so many 2008 Oregon Pinot Noirs. Good (+). Reviewed June 22, 2010

Winery: Coeur de Terre Vineyard
From article: More Sips of Noiregon Pinot